Monday, August 26, 2013

Text in the Common Core State Standards


A primary expectation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts is for students to be comfortable analyzing complex texts. CCSS defines text complexity in both quantitative (e.g., Flesch-Kincaid and Lexile® measures) and qualitative (e.g., sophistication of ideas, assumption of prior knowledge) terms. The standards documents offer a guide for evaluating text rigor and complexity as well as lists of sample texts that meet the requirements (http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy).  Embedded in the CCSS are requirements for types of texts as well, including “multiple accounts of the same event,” “modern works of fiction,” “seminal U.S. texts,” and “foundational works of American literature.” ATI’s ELA writers have expanded our text offerings to support assessment of the new standards.

In elementary school, we have added challenging nonfiction texts with higher Flesch-Kincaid and Lexile® measures, such as “The Ice Woman: Louise Boyd’s Arctic Adventures,” and “Up, Up, and Away: The Story of Helium.” Our new texts include newspaper articles, letters, and first-person accounts of festivals, neighborhood gardens, and carnivals. We’ve written contrasting biographies of famous and important writers. To our rich set of folktales and cultural myths, we’ve added contemporary fiction featuring modern-day children with contemporary concerns, as well as excerpts from classic children’s books like The Secret Garden and Little Women.

High school CCSS emphasize classic American literature and historical documents. We’ve recently added poems by Emily Dickinson, as well as several short stories by Kate Chopin. Our banks now include presidential speeches, including inaugural addresses by FDR, Lincoln, and Washington, as well as excerpts from The Federalist Papers and Common Sense.

Eleanor Gallagher
English Language Arts Content Coordinator

Monday, August 19, 2013

ATI has You Covered with Comprehensive Assessment Options

Whether you need a benchmark or a computerized adaptive test, Galileo® K-12 Online has you covered with its full range of assessment options. As an all-in-one instructional improvement and instructional effectiveness system, Galileo offers a comprehensive assessment system including not only benchmark and computer adaptive tests but also formative, screening and placement tests, plus interim and final course examinations, pretests and posttests, early literacy benchmarks, and instruments documenting instructional effectiveness. Additionally, ATI item banks are aligned with both Common Core and state standards and now contain selected-response, constructed-response, and technology-enhanced item types reflective of planned consortium assessment approaches.

Learn more

Monday, August 12, 2013

2013 Technical Manual for Galileo® Pre-K Online

ATI is pleased to announce that the technical manual for Galileo Pre-K Online was recently revised and published. This technical manual provides an overview of the theoretical background and research underlying the ongoing development of Galileo Pre-K Online from ATI. This document also describes the technical and psychometric properties of Galileo Pre-K Online and the recently revised Galileo G3 assessment scales for infancy to 5 years. Galileo’s approach to assessment is examined as well as how Galileo uses standards-aligned path-referenced scales based on Item Response Theory (IRT) to support users in measuring children’s development while documenting standards mastery. The technical manual addresses how the Galileo assessment scale content is aligned with federal and state standards, and summarizes the research evidence supporting the validity of the content comprising the scales. Detailed information regarding psychometric analyses of the Galileo G3 assessment scales for birth to 5 years is also made available to the reader.

To access the 2013 technical manual for Galileo Pre-K Online, click here.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Actionable Dashboard Reporting

Data supporting district transition to Common Core State Standards and new instructional effectiveness responsibilities is quickly accessible through actionable Dashboard reporting technology within Galileo® K-12 Online. Reliable and valid assessment results from district-wide benchmark, instructional effectiveness pretests and posttests, end-of-course, computer adaptive, formative, and an array of other Galileo assessments are rapidly available to teachers, administrators, specialists, and parents. Report data details student mastery of standards, next steps to design instruction to promote learning along with continuous tracking of student progress and forecasting of student performance throughout the year. Learn more.

Galileo K-12 Online from Assessment Technology Incorporated is a comprehensive all in one, standards based instructional improvement and instructional effectiveness system, providing assessment and instructional tools supporting local initiatives to enhance learning.